After discovery of its deleterious health effects on humans, the compound was banned from use in 1979 by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

As late as 1989, DBCP persistence was reported in groundwater that was previously used for beneficial purposes, and numerous nearby wells had to be shut down at that time.

Plantation workers who became sterile or were stricken with other maladies subsequently sued Dow and Dole in Nicaraguan courts, alleging that their ailments were caused by DBCP exposure.

Under a special law that was passed specifically for DBCP litigation, the Nicaraguan courts ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and awarded them over US$600 million in damages.

When plaintiff lawyers tried to enforce one of those judgments in the United States, the U.S. District Court in Florida held that "the credible and unrefuted medical testimony in this case is that it is factually impossible for what is represented in the Judgment to have occurred," and that due process "do[es] not permit awarding damages in the face of clear scientific evidence of the absence of causation," or, as in this case, "with proof that [the defendants] are not at fault.

"[6] A group of workers then filed lawsuits in the United States, and on November 5, 2007, a Los Angeles jury awarded them US$3.2 million.

[8] On April 23, 2009, a Los Angeles judge also threw out two similar cases against Dole and Dow Chemical due to fraud and extortion by lawyers in Nicaragua recruiting fraudulent plaintiffs to make claims against the company.